Gulp its out. A chance to see me in a tie for the first time in 6 years (and maybe the last in even more):

“Web 2.0 ummm,.. is ummmm. well ummm…”

The entire show is now online — note that the first half was the “industry” panel, with speakers from Microspft, Blackboard, etc on their perspective on web2… then the academics. I cannot say for sure if I said anything memorable, besides, “In Second Life I am a dog!”, but I thank Casey Green and the crew from CSU Montery Bay (it was worth going just to see John Ittelson’s new tech gadgets), as well as fellow panelists Gil Gonzales (colleague from days when we both were at Maricopa), new colleague Sandra Rotenberg (I got her hooked on twitter while we waited in the green room), and Rich Pickett from San Diego State.

The show director gives suggestions to Casey Greeen, Gil Gonzales, and Sandra Rotenberg

Hopefully, I was miserable enough that no one will ever invite me back in front of the camera.

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An early 90s builder of the web and blogging Alan Levine barks at CogDogBlog.com on web storytelling (#ds106 #4life), photography, bending WordPress, and serendipity in the infinite internet river. He thinks it's weird to write about himself in the third person.

This is really interesting, some good points made, i liked the fact that there was the corporate and the campus perspective there. Though more of an academic perspective could have also been interesting, and actually having the camus and corportate people talking to eachother……

I quoted some of your Second life responses around the office after i watched it, as i agree that some people are jumping into Second life without really thinking about it first, and in an academic world, using a technology because its there just doesn’t work. There needs to be a purpose.

Second life has powerful potential, but i believe it needs to be thought about when integrated into the classroom.

I have only briefly used Second life (my home machine just doesn’t hack it, and time is always an issue :-)), are there any updates on accessibility, i was reading an article from november last year, where at the time SL was not accessible to blind users, is this still the case? does anyone know?

Here in the UK, SL is getting greater and greater prominance, a year ago you didn’t hear mention of it in the HE sector, now it crops up at most conferences and events, it will be interesting to see how it grows.

I’ve heard peoples concerns about it being a fad, and not lasting, for me its too early to make that prediction.

Yes, I thought at first I’d be going head to head with the Microsoft and Bb dudes, but they kept us at a safe distance ;-) Actually they were quite nice people. And really the focus on the show seems to be more on campus administrators; there could have been a third/fourth episode on pedagogy.

And wow, did the 45 minutes or so go quckly! I dont even remember what I said any more and am not sure I want to listen ;-)

The thing about Second Life is… well there is *something* there, and in the early 1990s no one was really seeing the web as more than a curiosity. But I dont think they are on the same path- the web is, has, will be universal; it can be used for such a wide range of purposes at a low threshold of entry, while SL is not likely, IMHO< to be something that expands to reach as wide in breadth.
So it is not for everything, everybody, and is not a "3D Course Management System" (that thought is goofy and scary).
Anyhow, it is in this early experimentation stage, and we are starting to see glimmers of uses that take advantage of its capabilities, rather than strapping it onto an exisiting mode of use.
And yes, the UK scene in SL is very active and exciting, and for that matter, I am excited that there is a good deal of international action.
It's somewhere between a "fad" and "the greatest thing since ________" and may move in either direction on the continuum; but its way too early to judge it by its flaws, bizarre non educational uses.
Time to be "Being There!"
cheers (do you miss NZ at all?)
Alan

This has been in an open tab for over a week while I was travelling and I finally got a chance to view it today. Good job Alan! I loved the line “why do buildings in 2nd life have roofs? it doesn’t rain!” Casey Greene does a great job as facilitator, and it was really interesting to hear from some of your academic co-panelists; both Sandra and Gil made some great points.

Alan,
You worry too much…
Your point about Web 2.0 not being just one monolithic “product” was important. You also made the very intelligent point that maybe we need to do a lot more integrating with the wave of technology already available out there. That’s certainly been an important concept for me in leading my organization down the web 2.0 pathway. So much is available –for free! A little innovation, vision, and creatiity goes a long way right now.

It’s at least as difficult to grasp the radical aspects of web 2.0 technologies as it is to conceive of building a building without a roof–whether it needs one or not.

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